The News:
Drawing power from walk
By The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 02/08/2008 12:51:31 AM MST
WASHINGTON — Call it the ultimate power walk.
Researchers have developed a device that generates electrical power from the swing of a walking person's knee. With each stride the leg accelerates and then decelerates, using energy both for moving and braking.
Max Donelan and colleagues reasoned that a device that helps the leg decelerate could generate power without requiring much additional energy from the person.
It's sort of like the way that some hybrid-electric cars produce electricity from braking.
With the device, a minute of walking can power a cellphone for 10 minutes, said Donelan, of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Other potential uses include powering a portable GPS locator, a motorized prosthetic joint or implanted drug pumps.
Donelan and colleagues report on the device in today's edition of the journal Science. more...
The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.
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